I have a system that I've started using and am happy for now... I have tuned the system by looking at charts and stuff like that for hours on end.... I want to continue to get better...how do I get better? What should I be learning? What can I be doing after market closes expect read books??? Thanks
Don't listen to EMG, the mkt chewed him up and spit him out. He's just bitter. When I first started out I spent most of my time outside the mkt just looking over a ton of historical data and comparing scenarios to one another ad nausea until, eventually, I was able to piece together things in such a way that I was able to sharpen my understanding of intraday dynamics. Combined with watching and trading (very small at first), my core competency grew and, eventually so did my position sizing. I always say, it's not the amount of time one spends, it's the quality of that time that helps determine their success. Good luck!
Thanks Fireplace... I'm at that point of nausea so is there anything specific that you remember doing to continue to help yourself?
1) Use part of the time to continue to build the skills required for trading. 2) Get a real life with hobbies, relationships, etc. that have nothing to do with trading. Over the long run, having balance in your life is very important.
Besides writing up your accounts, you should maintain detailed stats of all your trades - entry price, exit price, reasons for entry and exit, same if you scale in or out of positions. Note especially if you did not execute the trade as per your system, eg exited too early. Review the chart for the day and note if you missed out any trades, or could have executed better. Not coulda, woulda, shoulda but objective reasons pointing to why it could have been done better, say support / resistance factored in would make it a better trade, or entry at market would have given you a trade that you otherwise missed. Review this weekly and look for areas of weakness and analyse ways to improve, eg if you get stopped out too often, look at where you are setting your stops. With detailed stats, you can summarise weekly / monthly and you get an objective picture of what you are doing. Don't forget to look at position size and money management. Some folks recommend maintaining a journal to record your thoughts or psychology each day. I don't do this, but some may find it helpful.
Continue looking at the big picture charts in different futures and stocks (look at leaders and loosers) to keep a tab on the markets heartbeat. Other than that... Excercise it helps relive all the build-up and refreshes you instantly. After that on weekdays you wont have much time to waste. On weekends I try to step out of life completly..visit family friends, go to beach park or shop.